VB-6 Felix

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VB-6 Felix
Type	anti-ship missile / guided bomb
Place of origin	United States
Service history
In service	never used operationally
Wars	World War II
Production history
Designer	National Defense Research Committee
Produced	1945
Specifications
Weight	1202 lb (545 kg)
Length	91.2 in (231.6 cm)
Diameter	18.6 in (47.2 cm)

Warhead	amatol explosive
Warhead weight	1000 pounds (454 kg)

Engine	none
Guidance system	infrared

The VB-6 Felix was a precision guided munition developed by the United States during World War Two. It was one of the precursors of modern anti-ship missiles.

Created by the National Defense Research Committee, Felix relied on infrared to detect and home on targets, in clear weather, especially ships at sea at night. It was this property which earned the weapon its name, after the ability of cats to see in the dark.

Felix was a 1000 pound (454 kg) general purpose (GP) bomb with an infrared seeker in the nose and octagonal guidance fins in the tail. Unlike other weapons, such as Fritz X, Felix was autonomous (what a later generation would call launch and leave), though there was a flare in the tail for tracking.

Successful trials led to Felix being put in production in 1945, but the Pacific War ended before it entered combat.

[edit] Sources

Fitzsimons, Bernard, editor. "Felix", in The Illustrated Encyclopedia of 20th Century Weapons and Warfare. Volume 9, p.926. London: Phoebus Publishing, 1978.